


Just One Year Alternate Chapters

by SJD_Caved_to_Fandom



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate chapters, Angst, Bad Decisions, Blood, Other, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Self-Harm, Undertale Genocide Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 02:58:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19368610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SJD_Caved_to_Fandom/pseuds/SJD_Caved_to_Fandom
Summary: These are the original planned Chapters 12, 13, and 14. Part of me felt they were too dark, so I altered them. I didn't really like the way the others flowed, but I felt like I shouldn't delete and replace them so instead I made this that I am going to link in the original chapters. They are both going to pick up in the same chapter 15, but I feel like these are more in line with what I was going for and some of it will be referenced in the later chapters.





	1. Alternate Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wrong words at the right moment can have far-reaching consequences. When guilt weighs on the mind, the strangest things seem wise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to hint at the self harm before, but this is more blatant. Be advised.

“Frisk, my child, would you be a dear and go fetch some snails for dinner?” Toriel asked, entering the sitting room from the kitchen.

Frisk looked up from the musty book she was reading by the fireplace and smiled at her mother. “Of course.”

Frisk stood and walked over to take small basket Toriel offered. Her mother pushed her long brown bangs back from her face and behind her ear with a gentle paw.

“I am so happy you have been with me all this time, my child,” Toriel said as she cupped her daughter’s face. “I feel so blessed to have you.”

Frisk continued to smile, even as her eyes betrayed a small spark of pain.

“I am also relieved that you have not attempted to leave,” Toriel continued. “I’m afraid those outside are growing bolder in their pursuit of a human.”

Frisk’s tiny smile dropped and she raised an eyebrow. “Are they?”

Toriel’s face fell as well and Frisk could tell she regretted saying as much. “Yes. I do like the young sentry who comes to trade jokes with me from time to time, but lately he has been asking almost every day about a human falling into the ruins. I’ve played him off, but it worries me.”

 _It was only a matter of time._ Piercing guilt weighing in Frisk’s gut.

“Well, you’ve told me it’s dangerous, so I don’t think it would be good to go near the exit anyway.” She attempted to plaster her smile on once more.

“Thank you for trusting me.” Toriel smiled once more, pulling Frisk into a warm embrace. “I know this life of seclusion isn’t easy, but it is for your benefit in the end.”

After bidding farewell, Frisk picked her way through the dim halls of the ruins in her bare feet to where the best snails were to be found. She had been dubious to try the green tinted pie that Toriel had served her, but was surprised to find it tasted much better than she had imagined. Perhaps it was the savory garlic and butter sauce, or maybe it was how filling it was compared to some of the other things Frisk had at her disposal. Butterscotch and cinnamon were great, especially as a pie, but they always left the thin girl wanting afterwards.

Bending down by the edge of a pile of red leaves near a small rivulet that trickled across the dilapidated hall, Frisk began to poke and prod at the cover, searching for the slow-moving creatures that matched the specific qualities her mother had engrained in her. Not too small, not with any signs of illness, and certainly not any that looked like they were caring for another.

Frisk didn’t flinch when a flash of yellow entered her vision and disrupted the dim redness around her. Her face neutral, eyes dim, she kept up her search.

“What gives?” Flowey asked, forcing Frisk to look at him. “You’ve been here for three months already and you still look like you could cry at any moment. Not only that, but you refuse to make any progress.”

“If you could hear me, I’d tell you I’ve already tried getting through to her,” Chara said, sitting down with a plop next to his brother. His movement caused a slight rustle of the top layer of leaves that sent a waft of the wet, mulching under layer into the air.

Flowey looked at the disturbance, puzzled to not see any cause for the movement. “Was that… Chara?”

“Yes,” Frisk said. “He’s trying to tell you he’s bored of me too.”

“That’s not what I said!”

“Well, I’m not bored, so much as confused,” Flowey said. “You know you can’t reset your age, but you keep wasting time. What are you looking to gain in all of this?”

“I’m not looking to gain anything,” Frisk said, snatching up the snails that had emerged due to Chara’s disturbance. “I just, can’t face Sans like this. I can’t face Pap or Undyne or Mettaton. Mom doesn’t mind, but they will care when they see.”

“You heard mom, though, Sans is getting impatient. You’re going to have to deal with him sooner or later,” Chara said.

Frisk paused in her picking, icy dread flowing down her back at the thought of how Sans would react when he saw her. Her sins crawled along her back, causing her to bend under their weight.

“You’re overthinking this,” Flowey said. “The comedian isn’t the type to act like that until it’s absolutely necessary. It’s not like it’s his job to care about stuff like that. He’ll be mad, maybe, but it’s not like he’ll try to kill you.”

“That’s the worst part,” Frisk said, tears starting to form, “that his anger will be there, his disappointment, but he won’t do anything different. He’ll just coldly go on like nothing happened. He’ll never trust me, never have faith in me like before, all because I thought I could help everyone by tearing everything apart. Now I failed, and he won’t even do anything about it.”

“Okay but staying in here isn’t going to help anything either,” Flowey said. “Being this cut off from the outside is going to drive you crazy. I’ve put people through it before, never ends well.”

“Then that can be my punishment,” Frisk said, avoiding eye contact.

“You can’t stay here and mope for forever!” Chara stood up in a huff. “The Underground still needs you, even Sans knows that. You’re going to have to face him again sooner or later and just deal with what he gives you.”

“With what he gives me?” A slow cog seemed to being revolving in Frisk’s mind.

“With what who give you?” Flowey asked, more upset than ever at his inability to hear Chara’s words. “What’s that look for, Frisk?”

“I need to face Sans, and deal with what he gives me.” Frisk stood slowly and lowered her voice. “But he won’t give me anything but the cold shoulder. At least here…”

“Hey, I do not approve of where this thought process is heading,” Flowey said. “You’re just going to make this worse.”

“He won’t talk, even when I beg. I don’t deserve his words; I need something much worse.” A look of resolution crossed Frisk’s face and she turned, abandoning her snail basket, and started to run back to where Toriel stayed.

“STOP! Frisk!” Vines whiffed past her; she dodged each one expertly.

Creeping past the watchful eyes of her mother, Frisk grabbed the tattered and worn clothes she had arrived in. Tearing off the sleeves of the sweater allowed her to wear it without limiting her movement. She treated her pants in a similar manner, cut off shorts providing her the movement she needed. Taking the sleeves and legs, she made a crude set of soft shoes around her feet.

“Don’t tell me you’re about to do what I think you’re about to do?” Chara asked, a grin on his face. “Do you actually thing that’s going to help anything?”

Frisk didn’t respond. Instead, she pulled her long hair back and twisted it into a single strand. Opening the dresser in the small bedroom, she pulled out the other artifact that came through with her like her pendant, a stained and worn knife. With a fluid motion, Frisk sliced her long strands off, giving herself an uneven bob cut as the world went black around her.

“Frisk, what do you think you’re doing?” Flowey said as he watched the other walk dead-eyed into his initial room at the start of the ruins.

“The only way I can fix this is if I show Sans that I’ve atoned.” Frisk pushed past the frantic flower. “I need to meet him there, positive in how many times I’ve done wrong so I can show him that I’m truly sorry.”

“Okay, nope, you’ve gone off the deep end.” Flowey wrapped his thorn covered vines around Frisk’s leg and fought to hold her in place. “Chara, if you are here, maybe try to increase your talking her out of it skills?”

“She’s not gonna make it more than a few kills before she realizes what she’s doing and gives up,” Chara said. “Besides, we’ve been wanting her to do something different and this is different.”

“Frisk, stop!” Flowey pleaded once more before Frisk pulled her leg out of his hold, causing long cuts down her flesh.

“You’ll both see. This is how it has to be.”

Frisk wasn’t going to wait, wasn’t going to play any games. She cut down Toriel before she could even give a proper greeting. Twenty residents of the ruins followed after until no one came forward to halt her progress. As she pushed open the door to the ruin, icy wind stinging her tear stained face, there were twenty-one tally marks carved into her left arm.

“Maybe the crybaby had a point.” Chara looked uncomfortable as Frisk paused to adjust to the frigid temperatures.

“Frisk!”

Flowey’s shout as he gained on Frisk sent her racing forward into the snow and away from his interference.

Frisk’s run was only halted by the familiar form who stood near the bridge to Snowdin. Sans’ features were pinched _Angry_ and concerned _Disappointed_ as he watched Frisk approach. Her arm dripped red and her face was hollow and worn.

“hey kid, you look like you’re on the path to poor life decisions.” Sans gave his normal weary smile. “how’s about we do something different?”

“Will you kill me Sans?” Frisk asked, staring past him and down the way as snow began to melt into her fabric shoes.

“i’d much rather find a place to sit down and chat.”

“That’s what I thought.” In a flash, Frisk side stepped the skeleton and started to cross the bridge.

“frisk!” Sans called after her.

“I’ll see you in the Judgement Hall,” Frisk said with a wave as she started to run once more.

By the time Papyrus fell, Frisk had no tears left to cry and nothing to say. 44 tallies.

By the time Undyne stood in her way, healing items were forgotten as she pushed forward with determination. 65 tallies.

By the time Mettaton Neo crashed, she was nothing but a blur of death and movement. 109 red bloody lines spread across both arms.

“Frisk, this is enough,” Flowey pleaded with her as Frisk walked bare foot down the quiet streets of home.

Blood dripped on the tile below as she reached the last save point before Sans.

“You came farther that I thought,” Chara said, his smile strained. “But seriously, maybe it’s okay to listen to Asriel this time. I mean, Sans probably isn’t smart enough to appreciate this anyway.”

Without a word, without acknowledgement, Frisk pressed on. Steadily making her way down the orange and gold room with its pillars and stained glass once again, her body screamed at her with pain in her arms, her stomach, her heart and soul.

“you really wanted me to kill you.” Sans wore a look of exhaustion and pain, his signature smile all but forgotten.

Frisk took her knife and held it to her left hand. Tearing into the flesh on the back of her hand, she etched the number 219 and held it up for the skeleton to see.

“kid…”

Sans was interrupted by Frisk hurling herself forward and swinging her arm in an attack. Throwing up bones on instinct, he impaled the charging human and the world twitched to reset.

Nothing he did could stop her. She ran forward, slashing and stabbing, never dodging, and running head long into blasters as they scaled back her flesh as she counted.

“why are you doing this?” Sans asked.

_50 deaths._

“you’re not even trying.”

_60 deaths._

“if you wanted to talk, why are you here again?”

_75 done and over with._

Sans pinned Frisk in on all sides with bones. She heaved and pushed herself against them, trying to squeeze forward, causing her health the drip down to 1 HP.

“what the actual hell, frisk,” Sans asked. Weariness had begun to weigh on him as well, the resets piling up at a speed he didn’t think possible.

“She’s gone off the deep end!” Flowey said. “She’s going…”

Frisk drew back and slammed herself into the bones again, sending the world into another game over.

_109, I’m half way there._

“so you’re smiling now, does that mean we’re done?” Sans asked before he dodged another slice.

Refusing to attack, Sans let himself be pushed back until he was pinned against a pillar by a manic grin and had no choice but to end her.

_135_

Crazed laughter filled the halls and Frisk dove forward again and again.

_175_

Frisk carried forward, her laughter failing as she struggled to keep going.

“Knock it off!” Chara shouted, holding onto the back of Frisk’s shirt and digging in his heels.

“But I’m nearly there.” Frisk’s voice was harsh and dry from disuse.

“I keep trying to get to the souls, but she’s resetting too fast,” Flowey shouted over the chaos. “Try to hold on.”

“Sans, why are you crying? This was the answer, right? No words, as if nothing was said at all!” Frisk raised her knife over her head, prompting another death.

_218 deaths. One more._

Slowly this time, Frisk stumbled down the hall. Sans stood out of breath, sweat pouring off of him, and body shaking as he watched her approach. Chara floated listlessly behind, holding onto Frisk’s shirt as tears dripped from his eyes. Flowey trembled, surrendering to fear in the face of true determination: bloodied and bruised and seeking after death.

Nothing was said for a moment as Frisk stood opposite the Judge of her sins. With a sigh, she fell to her knees and looked up into the glowing eyes that searched her very soul, begging for understanding. At the end of her journey, her body found moisture to send to tears as she smiled.

“This is it, Sans. The others are done, everyone accounted for. Only you are left.”

Disbelief overpowered pain for one blinding second as those words washed over Sans. He shook, his eyes dim, and breathing settling once more.

“if i don’t, you’ll keep coming back, won’t you?”

“Probably.”

“well, if that’s the case, we’d better get this over with.”

Sans fell forward onto Frisk, holding her close to his soul in an embrace. In one last jolt of pain, bones pierced through them both, causing a join pool of red to flow out and onto the ground.

“Thanks, Sans. This is the last time we’ll meet like this; I promise.”

“you’d better believe i’m holding you to that one, kid.”


	2. Alternate Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the alternative to Chapter 13.

Tired, crusted eyes peeled open in the light of the little patch of golden flowers where her journey first began. Frisk closed them and slowly let her breath come in and out as she let everything that happened play through her mind. A sore numbness filled her body and her 29 LV soul.

As sleep warred with the growling of her stomach, Frisk pushed herself up to a sit. A pair of arms wrapped around her and she could have sworn she felt wet tears roll down her back.

“Please, don’t ever do that again,” Chara said with a trembling voice. “You didn’t need to, it was my fault, I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Frisk said. “It was my choice that I needed to make up for.”

“I still put the idea in your head,” Chara said. “Do I… do you think I should…”

“Why would you? You’ve helped me this whole time. You gave me the idea, but I put it into action.”

“You’re crazy. I’ll never mention killing again.” Chara buried his head further and squeezed onto her.

“That’s fine, I promised Sans we wouldn’t anymore.”

Frisk stood up on trembling legs and felt the world spin round as she struggled to keep the hunger that plagued her from pushing her over.

“Your HP is dropping,” Chara said, still clinging.

“I know.”

Flowey looked at her with hollow eyes as she entered his room. “Are you done now? Are you happy?”

“I’m done. It’s over. Sorry that you had to come along.”

Flowey grabbed hold of Frisk’s leg and pulled himself out of the earth, spiraling up her body until he rested on her shoulder. “What are you going to do now?”

“First, I’m going to sneak past everyone except for the number of battles I need to earn enough for a burger and fries, then I’m going to crash at Grillby’s because I’m starving.”

“You kicked your sleeve shoes at me in Hotland, remember?”

“I’ll make it,” Frisk said.

Her brothers both grumbled their disapproval yet said nothing as Frisk picked her way along dark hidden paths that she learned with Toriel during the three months that came before her quickest route of the Underground. Slipping past Toriel entirely while still making time to challenge some of the residents of the Ruins was no easy feat, but with all her experience, Frisk had no trouble.

A dull pain shot through her feet as Frisk trailed along in the snow barefoot. The frigid winds soothed the burning pain along her arms that had stopped bleeding and scarred over sometime during her fight with Sans. The change in her pain felt like a new emotion as she continued along in the darkness with no sign of Sans or Papyrus.

When she reached Snowdin, a small handful of residents were wandering about, though the late hour meant many were still in bed. _Just as well, even if they can’t recognize a human, I’m not exactly a pleasant sight to see._

The door to Grillby’s bar swung open and Frisk stepped inside of the bright warmth that seemed only a remembered dream. After shutting the door, Frisk stood in silence in the entryway, grateful most of the patrons were gone or served to the point of ignoring her entrance. As she let the experience of living warmth seep into her, Frisk felt two eyes light on her.

Turning to the bar, Frisk saw Grillby at his post. It seemed like an eternity since last she saw his face which now stared at her with a barely contained confusion.

_Does he recognize me as a human? Is he confused that I’m here without Sans?_

Frisk made her way to the bar and sat on the chair next to Sans’ favorite spot after dropping the whoopie cushion on to the prankster’s seat. She fished the entirety of her g from her tight pocket and let the funds clatter on the counter. “Is this enough for a burger and fries?”

Frisk expected a nod or a shake of the head. Though she had heard him talk (he was always the chatter box at home when the neighborhood children stopped by) he never said a word when he was behind his bar, for some reason she couldn’t guess. So, when Grillby said softly, “That’s more than enough for two of each,” it caught her off guard.

Recovering, Frisk shrugged. “Well, I won’t need it for anything else, so go ahead and put it towards Sans’ tab. He’s always paying for me.”

Looking up at the orange glowing fire monster, Frisk saw his flames stutter as his eyes grew wide.

“YOU!” Grillby slammed his hands down on the counter and leaned towards Frisk, causing her to pull back.

Frisk, Chara, and Flowey all stared at Grillby in the shock of the moment.

“What?” Frisk asked.

“It’s you,” Grillby repeated. “Frisk, what have you done?”

The blood drained from her face when she heard her name being spoken. Was there time for Sans to have come and told him about what happened?

“Your arms,” Grillby said, pain filling his warm, crackling voice as he reached out and pulled her arms to him. “They’re already scabbed over. And you’re so tall and thin!”

“You remember me?” Frisk asked. “How?”

“It’s a long story for another day,” the elemental said. “But you bringing up the tab was a trigger that Sans and I use often to make sure we’re on the same page during all of this.”

Frisk stared ahead as she processed what she had just been told.

_The tab is a code word? Grillby can remember too?_

The thought was terrifying and somehow, extremely hilarious.

“Frisk, don’t laugh like that again,” Flowey said as Frisk began to shake with rattling cackles.

“Don’t,” Chara pleaded as well.

Frisk fell into a coughing fit as her HP dropped still further as her stomach clenched. Once she had her breath, she turned her teary face towards Grillby. “This is what I get, isn’t it? I thought it would just be Sans who knew and I tried to atone with him. And now, you remember too. There’s no getting past it.”

Frisk started to droop forward. Grillby caught her head and pointed it back up at him.

“Do you hate me?” The hoarse whisper carried the weight of the world in every syllable.

“Are you sorry for what you did?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to do it again?”

“No.”

“Then I cannot say that I hate you,” Grillby said, his face still mournful as he looked into the deadened eyes that once held so much innocent life. “I want to know why, and I want to know what should make me believe you will stop, but not now. I’ll put in your order and call Sans here, I’m not about you make you explain yourself twice.”

Cupped around her face, Grillby turned his flames shimmering green, pulling her failing HP back up to full by encasing her. Frisk tentatively pressed her face into the kind hands that had done so much for her when she was small, letting the fire of life seep into the dark and twisted caverns she had crafted in her heart and soul.

The immediate threat of death gone, Grillby pulled her into a deep embrace and held her there for a moment before passing her a container of bar nuts a quarter full and telling her to squeeze into one of the vacated booths along the right side of the bar to provide a bit of privacy.

Taking the much-needed food, Frisk did as she was told, crouching into the stall, hidden from the world around her.


	3. Alternate Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This came out much more sedate and less hysterical in my opinion.  
> Here's the link back. [Chapter 15](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18942319/chapters/46142173#workskin)

Frisk had devoured the burger and fries almost as soon as they hit the table. Grillby had brought out something else soon after, a curry by the looks of it, with a bright red sauce that smelled of meat and spices over a heaping plate of rice. Frisk didn’t have time to question why he would give her even more food as it was all she could do to not choke as she inhaled the fiery dish. A flaming hand on her forehead pushed Frisk away from the plate as her mind began to register the flaming agony that spread through her mouth as she downed the large glass of milk that had at some point been placed in front of her.

By the time Sans arrived, Frisk was slumped over the table, mind numb and stomach nearly bursting. She shivered as she felt full for the first time in what seemed like ages as she hazily noted Sans sliding into the booth across from her. This was followed by Grillby who pulled a dark purple candle out of his inventory and pressed it to the table. He lit the long spire and a bubble of illusion encased them, blocking prying eyes and listening ears from their conversation.

*Knock Knock*

Sans rapped on the table as Frisk fought the feeling of sleep that washed over her.

“Who’s there?”

“canoe.”

“Canoe who?”

 “canoe help me understand what’s going on?”

Frisk sat in silence for a moment, time slowed to a crawl around her as she turned the question over in her mind. What was going on? She sat there surrounded by those she knew in a fog of exhaustion and numbness. The more days that passed, the farther that wonderful year where she learned so much, yet so little, about those she cared about fell away like a good dream in a hellish reality.

Sighing heavily, Frisk pushed herself up off the table with sore arms, causing Chara to readjust himself as he continued to cling to her.

“What do you want to know? I’ll answer what I can, but I only know part of it.”

“let’s start with the reset, on that day. you seemed happy, everything seemed fine then…”

“Poof,” Frisk finished. “It went from the best day of my life to the worst.”

“Are you saying you didn’t reset?” Grillby asked as Frisk continued to nod at her own observation without adding any additional detail.

“I didn’t,” Frisk said. “I was going to go play with Papyrus. He had a new puzzle, remember? Then I tripped and woke up in the ruins, all alone.”

“Some else reset?” Grillby pressed.

“That’s all we can think of.” Frisk absently ran her fingers over the raised bumps on her arms as she stared ahead. “Because Flowey didn’t do it, right?”

“Not even I’m that much of an ass,” the golden flower said from his perch. “Plus, I didn’t remember the reset happened until Frisk told me. That and the fact that I wouldn’t have used Frisk’s first arrival as my reset point.”

“And Chara couldn’t reset then.”

“I still can’t reset or I’d have stopped you.”

“By Chara, do you mean Prince Chara?” Grillby asked.

Frisk nodded. “He’s right here. When I fell the very first time, something resonated and he woke up. Neither of us know why or how, but he can’t leave and I’m the only one who can see him.”

The adult monsters fought to keep the look of incredulity off their faces.

“is that who you were talking to apart from me and the flower in the hall?” Sans asked.

“Yes, he was helping me the first time, but last time, he actually started trying to hold me back.”

“He’s solid enough to hold onto you, but not be seen?” Grillby asked.

“The touch thing is pretty new, it only happened when we first gained EXP. Back when we were on the surface, he couldn’t touch anything. Remember how I spent two months playing with Ouija boards and spirit photography?”

“you were trying to prove he was there.” The memories settled in Sans’ mind as he looked at where Frisk had motioned to indicate where her phantom companion rested. There was the faintest indent in her exposed side, and the memory of what seemed like her walking against an invisible wind were enough to convince him. “alright, kid, i believe ya. about the kid, and the reset. but that just makes the next question harder. why did you do what came next?”

“It was my fault,” Chara groaned. “Just tell him and move on.”

Frisk took a deep breath and blinked a few times. “When the reset happened, I was scared. My home, all my friends and family, the freedom for the monsters that I had worked for; everything was gone. We crossed everyone we knew to blame off the list and still no culprit. That’s when Chara suggested that maybe it was someone we hadn’t met, or a friend we didn’t know as much about as we thought.

“He wants me to blame him, but I decided to do it too. We thought that if we ripped everything apart at the seams, whoever had caused the reset would be forced to come out and face us. Once we knew who it was, we would just bring everyone back and deal with the problem together. Things just didn’t work how they were supposed to.”

“and that’s what you were trying to explain?” Sans asked about their first time in the Judgement Hall.

“That and I was trying to figure out what you meant by anomaly,” Frisk said. “Like, if you just meant resets in general, or if you thought Flowey and I were the same thing, or if you maybe knew who we were looking for. You’re the only one who really started to give us hints, but I can understand now that you might have been too upset to talk about it.”

“if i had known what it felt like, i wouldn’t have done it like i did,” Sans said. “back then i was just thinkin’ about getting you to stop and some of the things you asked, i just didn’t have an answer for.”

“If you didn’t know who the anomaly was, that wouldn’t have been such a big deal,” Frisk said, hoping he did, in fact, know that answer.

Sans shook his head. “i mean all the stuff you were saying about your deaths in your first route. about how you died almost as much then as you did when you were actually trying to kill. about our time in the resort where i joked about your death count.”

“Sans,” Grillby shot the skeleton a glare that Sans turned away from.

“It’s not so bad,” Frisk said. “I was mostly upset because if I had known you could remember resets, I would have known to make it past the Ruins before I gave up. Fighting through the first time, making friends, I wasn’t really bothered by the deaths as long as I could get back up again and keep going.”

“That wasn’t all you were mad about,” Chara said, poking Frisk in the side.

“Oh, right,” Frisk said, looking down at her brother. “I was also mad because everyone acted like the world’s biggest idiot when it came to survival. I mean, Paps tried to capture me when I flirted with him and hug me when I was covered in dust. Undyne still let MK run around with a killer on the loose so many times that he almost died. No one told Dad until Flowey flipped out. If I couldn’t bring everyone back, could you imagine how terrible that would have been?”

“guess i’ve gotten complacent between all the resets,” Sans said. “the flower always resets, and it wasn’t until near the end that i really felt like something worse might happen if i didn’t get involved.”

“What about when I went crazy and took the souls?” Flowey asked. “I don’t have the best memory of it, but Frisk filled me in and it’s by far the worst thing I’ve done.”

Sans shrugged and avoided eye contact. “i know it sounds like a copout, but i trusted frisk. the whole run, i wanted to give her the chance to do something great without babysitting her the whole way. so i watched. i didn’t intervene more than the occasional pep talk. and i knew her determination to press on against the odds to be a hero. i thought if I were to but in then, it would make things a lot messier. that’s why, i joined with the others to send her our strength towards the end, but other than that, i let her handle it.”

“Good intentioned or not, we never should have let that fall to you,” Grillby said. “A child doesn’t deserve to be put through the pressure of holding the world on her shoulders. Our lives and freedoms shouldn’t have been your responsibility. I’m sorry we let you throw away the most precious years of your life like that.”

“perhaps that’s why, when you didn’t find what you had been looking for, you felt the need to go at it again?”

“That’s not entirely true.” Frisk suddenly felt self-conscious about the marks on her arms, folding them closer to herself and trying to lean over them. “If I had just failed, while everything else went back to normal, I think I would have been fine but… you can see that I don’t have that luxury.”

“you’re upset that you’ve grown?” Sans asked.

“I was wanting to bring that up,” Grillby said. “You don’t look anywhere close to thirteen. You’re much taller, and you’re so thin it was causing your HP to drop. There’s something that we’re missing, isn’t there?”

Frisk nodded and thought over how she wanted to say it. “After Sans, Dad, and Flowey no one came out to fight. Using the souls, we decided to wipe away the world and fold ourselves into the void to wait for answers. We intended to stay a year, but there isn’t really any way to tell the time. All I know is that the power of maintaining us in the void passed from one soul to the next. When it was passed back to me, Chara reset everything. Not only did I outgrow my clothes and shoes, but I still had this locket, the knife, and…”

Frisk let her bright and brimming soul come out, casting a red hue all around the little pocket of space they occupied.

“29 LOVE?” Sans sounded disbelieving even as he stared at it for himself.

Frisk hung her head. “I-it was twenty then, but I still couldn’t… still couldn’t face anyone knowing they would see what I had done. After three months with mom, something snapped and I thought that if I…”

Frisk felt her hands grabbed and pulled across the table as she began to pick and scratch at her arms. Fire and bone both gently cradled her hands and, as she looked up, she noticed tears streaming down both of the faces in front on her. A splash that dripped on one of her outstretched arms told her she was crying too.

“frisk, i’m sorry,” Sans said. “you made a promise to me, right?”

“That I’ll never end up before you again to be judged,” Frisk said.

“i’m going to make a promise too. i’m going to put my all into helping you figure out what happened. we’ll take whatever you know, what we know, and we’ll make this right.”

A faint glow stirred in Frisk’s chest even as she frowned. “Why would you want to work with me? After everything, I thought you’d be through with me.”

“Frisk, what you did was wrong,” Grillby said. “You hurt a lot of monsters, and yourself. However, there is no doubt in my mind that you are sorry, and I have every reason in the world to forgive you.”

“the first time was from us making you feel like it was your problem to deal with,” Sans added. “and the mania of guilt that overtook you after everything that happened caused the second. knowing you could reset, intending to do just that, you’ve gotta admit it’s a different game then when asgore, and undyne, and mettaton, and the guards, and everyone else you’ve already forgiven tried to kill you thinking you’d stay dead.”

“Oh look, it’s the thing I’ve been trying to tell you for the past three months,” Chara quipped as he finally sat up.

Frisk gave a huff of a laugh as she felt the numbness and pain slough away at last, leaving her feeling like there might be some hope for the future after all.

“So, does that mean you’re going to be a scientist instead of a sentry next time?” Frisk asked, a smile crossing her face at last.

Sans gave a chuckle. “the thing is, i’m not actually a sentry. i took that on because i didn’t want to get pap tied up in my high judge business. the hotdog stand also lets me keep an eye on the kingdom without arousing too much suspicion.”

“Wait, so your actual job is Judge?” Frisk asked.

“Yes. He’s the head of the five judges, taking the Grimm Monster seat. I actually hold the Fire Judge seat after my old man stepped down to focus on the family business,” Grillby said.

“Okay, what else aren’t you telling me?”

The candle on the table chose that moment to go out. It was a bit of a shock, suddenly merging back in with the world around them, even if the bar was empty. Nina approached the table with a large mug in her hand that she slid in front of Frisk.

“I’m glad you’ve got it all worked out,” she said gently. “Now I think it would be best for you to drink up, take a shower, and head to bed.”

“Good idea,” Grillby said, smiling at his wife.

“You’re just trying to avoid telling me secrets,” Frisk said as she pulled the large mug filled with hot chocolate towards her.

She smiled faintly as she remembered their winter on the surface; forgetting the time while running around playing with young human and monster children. Night would fall in a rush and whichever adult lived closest would scoop them into the warmth of their house as the temperatures plunged with the sun until parents could find and collect them. Grillby and Nina had always made hot chocolate for them when it was their home the children took shelter in.

With a contented sigh, Frisk drained her cup with renewed determination for the day ahead.


End file.
